Game One: Matrim55 vs. Aburks41 ***Winner: Matrim55***

[hoophuskee]

Nope.


Because Travis was a center and Ricky was a point guard.


No, he outplayed Dampier.

Travis: 5-for-10, 10 pts, 13 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 blocks
Damp: 6-for-15, 15 pts, 8 rebounds, 0 steals, 2 blocks

Travis was the only starter who showed up that game (which is exhibit A in my "You need more than one offensive initiator!" argument - if Ricky was healthy we would have won). He also put up 15 pts and 13 rebounds against Joe Smith's Maryland in the 1995 tourney, and led the team in rebounds vs. UCLA as well.

The games in which he didn't show up tended to be against the small teams - he was a non-entity in our first round win over Colgate that year, for example. But put him up against a real center, and he'd at least hold his own (just ask Georgetown).

Anyway, neither Knight, nor Hayward, nor Kirk King were soft. The problem with that 95-96 team was that they only went 3 deep in the backcourt, and once Ricky got hurt, we had no ability to change up the game.


Your alzheimer's is kicking in.

No it's not. Hey think what you want. We were soft during that time and Travis was soft. There was a reason why Travis was last pick in 1st round -which is good - but hwere would you define his weakness? It was vs physical players. If he showed what you suggested he'd have been a higher pick. If you think we didn't have to sell out oursleves down low vs. Dampier then imo you are wrong. Defense has to collapse. Dmapier was 10th pick overall Travis was late 1st round. You see how tourney can change outlook of a palyer.

And Joe Smith is completely diffeent than Drummond. Drummond is a 7 foot physical rebounder. Joe Smith was not a power player. It's not tsay he didn't have power. But he used his quickess. He could handle the ball.

You are way overating Travis Knight. To make an implication he was a big reason we were 65-5 when we had guys liek Allen/Sheffer/Ollie/Donny Marshall is wrong imo. You aren;t getting my vote here - you may if you had another big man but you just have - a finesse center and no one to back him up. And I don't know why you are mentioning "offensive initiator" in any manner.

 

[tzznandrew]

You are way overating Travis Knight. To make an implication he was a big reason we were 65-5 when we had guys liek Allen/Sheffer/Ollie/Donny Marshall is wrong imo. You aren;t getting my vote here - you may if you had another big man but you just have - a finesse center and no one to back him up. And I don't know why you are mentioning "offensive initiator" in any manner.

I, too, think Travis is being overrated. Nice player, but he's not who you are taking if you are looking for toughness.

 

[whaler11]

Knight wasn't a finesse center. He averaged 14.8 rebounds per 40 as a senior, best we ever had in the Calhoun/Ollie era. Emeka's best was 14.2 for a reference, while Drummond's was about 11.5.

There's a reason we went something like 65-5 with Travis as a starter. It wasn't because he was soft.

Your team is 20 points better in this matchup. I imagine the voting is close because you are coming off like a complete in some of the threads

 

[tzznandrew]

Your team is 20 points better in this matchup. I imagine the voting is close because you are coming off like a complete in some of the threads

This one feels way too close given the teams.

 

[champs99and04]

34 to 33 with a little over four hours to go. This was the type of excitement I was hoping for.

I also have no idea what to do in the case of a tie. Anybody?

 

[jleves]

34 to 33 with a little over four hours to go. This was the type of excitement I was hoping for.

I also have no idea what to do in the case of a tie. Anybody?

Everybody gets two votes and run it again.

 

[whaler11]

34 to 33 with a little over four hours to go. This was the type of excitement I was hoping for.

I also have no idea what to do in the case of a tie. Anybody?

If you have a tie in this matchup.... I'd probably question the point of it.

Those teams aren't even close to evenly matched.

 

[ColoradoUCFan]

I also have no idea what to do in the case of a tie. Anybody?

I vote for a drinking contest

 

[champs99and04]

If you have a tie in this matchup.... I'd probably question the point of it.

Those teams aren't even close to evenly matched.

The problem with the exercise is that there is a major age disparity on this board. Half of the people voting are probably college-aged or close to it and unaware of how good some of the players on matrim's team were. Frankly, that's probably going to be the downfall of his team.

And, while I agree Matrim's team is better, I don't think it's the landslide some are making it out to be. Smith and Butler were two of the best players in the history of this program.

 

[Matrim55]

And, while I agree Matrim's team is better, I don't think it's the landslide some are making it out to be. Smith and Butler were two of the best players in the history of this program.

They really were. Until Kemba's 2011, nobody did more in a single season/tourney run to single-handedly carry a UConn team than Caron in '02, and until Gordon showed up, Smitty was the best combo guard we've ever had.

It's funny, though, that Drummond is the one who is likely to carry the torch as UConn's superstar in the NBA. I love the kid, and would love to see him end up with a real point guard and some floor spaces to play with in Detroit, but he was a tire fire on both ends in his lone season here.

 

[tzznandrew]

It's funny, though, that Drummond is the one who is likely to carry the torch as UConn's superstar in the NBA. I love the kid, and would love to see him end up with a real point guard and some floor spaces to play with in Detroit, but he was a tire fire on both ends in his lone season here.

This. He got 10 and 10 in the Big East, which is hard to do. But it was on pure athleticism. His defensive breakdowns were devastating to the 2012 team. And while he showed flashes of offense, he wasn't nearly as accomplished as a number of big men that came through UConn. And Center isn't really UConn's strongest position.

 

[PcketknfNiels]

This. He got 10 and 10 in the Big East, which is hard to do. But it was on pure athleticism. His defensive breakdowns were devastating to the 2012 team. And while he showed flashes of offense, he wasn't nearly as accomplished as a number of big men that came through UConn. And Center isn't really UConn's strongest position.

Welcome to 95% of college freshman. Clean it up guys.

 

[hoophuskee]

I, too, think Travis is being overrated. Nice player, but he's not who you are taking if you are looking for toughness.

I agree with you. But in this matchup I see that Dyson or Smith can bust Sheffer off the dribble. The only thing Drummond was able to do was offensive rebound. He is vastly overrated as a college player but his strength is offensive rebounding. As Dyson or Smith penetrate on Sheffer - there would be no Donyell to block shots. Thus you are asking Travis to help on defense then recover enough to fight off Drummond from collecting offensive rebounds. And Travis is the only center on this team. IMO it's too much for him.

I'd love to see this team with John Thomas instead of Lyman DePriest. Just one more backup as a big.

 

[tzznandrew]

I agree with you. But in this matchup I see that Dyson or Smith can bust Sheffer off the dribble. The only thing Drummond was able to do was offensive rebound. He is vastly overrated as a college player but his strength is offensive rebounding. As Dyson or Smith penetrate on Sheffer - there would be no Donyell to block shots. Thus you are asking Travis to help on defense then recover enough to fight off Drummond from collecting offensive rebounds. And Travis is the only center on this team. IMO it's too much for him.

I'd love to see this team with John Thomas instead of Lyman DePriest. Just one more backup as a big.

I think that's fair. I just think aburks team lacks a true distributor. His team sort of has to play the dribble drive, which I guess he can do 1-3.

But defense has to be taken into consideration on how Matrim can slow down aburks. Ricky is going to really bother Smitty, and make him work to get into the paint, and Lyman can really bother Caron. You can't stop either of them, but their lives will be difficult, and, while Dyson may have near free-range into the paint, he may not be a good enough decision maker to make them pay. It's just as likely he'll get a silly charge or two.

 

[PcketknfNiels]

I think that's fair. I just think aburks team lacks a true distributor. His team sort of has to play the dribble drive, which I guess he can do 1-3.

But defense has to be taken into consideration on how Matrim can slow down aburks. Ricky is going to really both Smitty, and make him work to get into the paint, and Lyman can really bother Caron. You can't stop either of them, but their lives will be difficult, and, while Dyson may have near free-range into the paint, he may not be a good enough decision maker to make them pay. It's just as likely he'll get a silly charge or two.

I find it funny that you're attempting to draw parallels between this game and our game to kind of put it into people's minds for Wednesday. This is a tied matchup and I have a better team and Aburkds and you have a worse defensive team than matrim.

But seriously, can we have one thread where you just be quiet for awhile? Ya already posted your thoughts, anything more and it becomes clear you're just trying to politic for votes.

 

[tzznandrew]

I find it funny that you're attempting to draw parallels between this game and our game to kind of put it into people's minds for Wednesday. This is a tied matchup and I have a better team and Aburkds and you have a worse defensive team than matrim.

But seriously, can we have one thread where you just be quiet for awhile? Ya already posted your thoughts, anything more and it becomes clear you're just trying to politic for votes.

???

The whole overlap is Smitty and Giffey, and unlike aburks you do have a PG, regardless of how I feel about him. Mitigates that comparison. And you'll notice what I said about the player you have. I also said nothing about the one player I have.

It has nothing to do with you. It has nothing to do with politics.

I simply think Matrim has a much better team.

I'll refrain from talking about our teams match up because I said I would.

 

[PcketknfNiels]

???

The whole overlap is Smitty and Giffey, and unlike aburks you do have a PG, regardless of how I feel about him. Mitigates that comparison. And you'll notice what I said about the player you have. I also said nothing about the one player I have.

It has nothing to do with you. It has nothing to do with politics.

I simply think Matrim has a much better team.

I'll refrain from talking about our teams match up because I said I would.

Lmfao you're saying almost word for word the same stuff here that ya were saying earlier. And you insist on repeatedly posting here, you put in your 2 cents already multiple times, I don't want to have to police you because you're out here trying to make the same argument that you'll be making Wednesday and convince people that it's right.

I feel like I'm recruiting against squid here.

 

[hoophuskee]

I agree this team lacks a distributor. But dribble drive can win. I just don't think there is a "significant" defensive difference between Burrell and DePriest in terms of these fantsay games. I don;'t think anyone believes Burrell would get wiped off the court. But no way DePriest is shutting him down. DePries would do better on the ball. But how much? Butler is a beast. It's too much imo to say he'd do significantly better than Burrell. I jut don't remember anyone player stopping Butler at the end of his soph year. He may have had a game he just missed.

And I agree Dyosn is a bad decsion maker at times. So he commits two offensive fouls. He'll also get Travis sometimes and on his misses Drummond will follow with Dunks or get fouls by Travis helping out. Then you'd have occasionally Butler breaking through and on a less occasion Smith breaking through. It's not like Ricky will stop Smith the whole game.

And a weakness of Drummond is his awful ft shooting. Travis can't go wild with the fouls because of the consistent threat of penetration along with having no backup.

I will say this- Donyell would be a beast in this game.

 

[intlzncster]

I will say this- Donyell would be a beast in this game.

Donyell would be a beast in every game.

 

[Mike Honcho]

My vote counted!!!!

 

[tzznandrew]

Lmfao you're saying almost word for word the same stuff here that ya were saying earlier. And you insist on repeatedly posting here, you put in your 2 cents already multiple times, I don't want to have to police you because you're out here trying to make the same argument that you'll be making Wednesday and convince people that it's right.

I feel like I'm recruiting against squid here.

Again, your reading into something just not there. As you have a number of times. You should chill. I'd like to participate in these discussions, and, if you like, I guess, you can always see some ulterior motive that wasn't intended. Let it go. You don't want to read my posts, don't: put me on ignore.

And if you are so confident that your team is so much better than mine, which you've made incredibly clear, you should be terrified that this vote was so close: Matrim's team is filled with mid-90s stars, whereas aburks is filled with solid post-2000 players. I mean, the teams weren't even close.

But your main mistake is thinking that people on the Boneyard would remember something Wednesday that was said on Sunday night. Half of them are drunk.

 

[Walker11]

I find it funny that you're attempting to draw parallels between this game and our game to kind of put it into people's minds for Wednesday. This is a tied matchup and I have a better team and Aburkds and you have a worse defensive team than matrim.

But seriously, can we have one thread where you just be quiet for awhile? Ya already posted your thoughts, anything more and it becomes clear you're just trying to politic for votes.

This is a funny complaint because I felt you were doing the same thing with all your talk about how 2 PG's or at least ball handlers are unnecessary.

 

[61cygni]

But your main mistake is thinking that people on the Boneyard would remember something Wednesday that was said on Sunday night. Half of them are drunk.

Only half? You must be drunk.

 

[tzznandrew]

This is a funny complaint because I felt you were doing the same thing with all your talk about how 2 PG's or at least ball handlers are unnecessary.

Taliek wasn't a great PG (and played terribly in the final 4) and 04 was our best team. Williams was our best pure passer ever and his team...well, we know what happened there.

The Taliek point had no "politics" behind it...

 

[PcketknfNiels]

This is a funny complaint because I felt you were doing the same thing with all your talk about how 2 PG's or at least ball handlers are unnecessary.

Disproving a ridiculous notion (that people don't look at in context) in a conversation I was holding with another person is entirely different than replying to every person's post in a thread that isn't even my matchup trying to get my guys over.